Granite City superintendent among group appealing to Rauner for funding reform

Scott Cousins, scousins@civitasmedia.com

Published 10:25 pm, Thursday, May 19, 2016

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Granite City superintendent among group appealing to Rauner for funding reform

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GRANITE CITY — Granite City School District Superintendent Jim Greenwald is one of 15 superintendents statewide signing a letter to Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner urging passage of education funding reform.

The letter was sent as part of efforts by Funding Illinois’ Future, a coalition urging changes in the state’s education funding formula, in support of Senate Bill 231.

The bill would change the state’s education funding formula to provide more funding for poorer school districts.

School funding has been a hot topic, with many local educators expressing concerns about inequalities in state funding.

“Our district could use some help, along with all school districts in Illinois,” Greenwald said Thursday. “We’ve made cuts until we can’t make cuts anymore. We have made teacher cuts, we have made program cuts… We just cannot continue to do this.”

The bill, sponsored in the Illinois Senate by state Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill), was approved by the Senate May 10 and sent to the House, where it’s future is considered “uncertain” according to various media sources. Among criticisms are that it is a bailout of the Chicago school system. There are also concerns that although there is a “hold harmless” provision that would mean no district would lose money for a set time it would eventually cost some school districts funding.

According to the letter, the districts are “struggling under the weight of a broken funding formula that hits students in poor districts the hardest.

“We are disappointed to see that your administration is proposing an approach that would continue the broken status quo,” the letter stated, “helping districts that are already wealthy and putting a greater burden on districts that have high concentrations of poverty.”

It also claims Illinois is the “worst state in the nation” in addressing funding gaps and although Rauner has acknowledged that the formula is broken and needs to be fixed, nothing is being done.

Part of the letter, dated May 19, notes: “Granite City School District 9 has already closed three schools, in addition to reducing teaching staff by 13 percent, administrative staff by 15.6 percent and support staff by 2.19 percent. Under your budget proposal, our funding would decrease by another $600,649.”